Leoniek Bontje is a herbalist and wild forager who is passionate about sharing her extensive knowledge of plants and their many uses. In her book Natural Homemade Beauty discover how to make luxurious, safe and effective beauty products using plants and flowers, many of which you’ll be able to find around you or grow at home. This instructive guide contains easy-to- follow recipes, complete descriptions of the product-making process, an explanation of the plants used, and glorious photography throughout. Learn to make rich moisturising cream with daisy extract, camomile-based shampoo for glossy hair and relaxing lavender and pine room spray alongside a wealth of other delights such as body butter, lip balm and bath oil. Armed with this book you can create a whole beauty counter of products in no time, both for yourself and for gifting.

YARROW SPRAY

Yarrow is a wonderful plant for your skin It is restorative and helps wounds to heal, so I like to have it in spray form to apply it to minor wounds Yarrow spray is also effective if you suffer from acne or other skin imperfections

Ingredients for 200ml

- 25–50g yarrow flowers and leaves (enough to fill the pot)
- 175ml vodka
- Spring water
- A clean 200ml pot or jar with lid
- A clean 200ml spray bottle

Fill the pot to the top with the leaves and flowers, then pour over the vodka to cover the plant material. Put the lid on the pot and add a label Leave to stand for six weeks, then strain and the yarrow tincture is ready for use Decant the tincture into the spray bottle and top up with spring water in the ratio of one third tincture, two thirds spring water

LIZA WITTE’S HAND BALM

Liza Witte makes wonderfully fragranced skin oils and sprays to make your home smell delicious, as well as hand sprays and soaps. I discovered her products in a variety of shops, which all featured the unmistakable scent of her wonderful room spray. She likes to use fragrances that are associated with food and cooking, such as cardamom, chocolate and vanilla.

As well as having the magic touch effective if you apply it before going with fragrance, Liza is also a stylist to sleep, so it can sink into your and potter. Whenever I visit her, her studio is filled with bottles and pots. She's been busy experimenting with little discs of hand balm that you can hold in your hands to nourish and soften your skin, inspired by the ones used by climbers to soothe painful hands abraded by gripping the rock.

Liza has generously shared her recipe for a rich balm for hands chapped by winter weather or the effects of working with soil and clay.

“I call it hand balm for hard workers, climbers, potters and gardeners. This balm softens rough, chapped skin and can also protect your skin from the effects of heavy manual labour. When you hold the disc in your hand, your body heat melts it slightly. It's also really effective if you apply it before going to sleep, so it can sink into skin overnight” Liza

Equipment

- Precision scales
- Double boiler or a pan to heat ingredients in a water bath
- Two clean jam jars for melting your ingredients
- Two glass or wooden stirring rods
- Four small paper or silicone cups to use as moulds
- Four small tins for storing the balm

Ingredients

for four small hand-balm discs, each approximately 23g

- 33g beeswax, raw, yellow, in pieces and not deodorised (unless you don't like the smell of beeswax)
- 23g grape seed oil
- 22g sweet almond or apricot kernel oil
- 10g wheat germ oil (or 5g wheat germ oil + 5g sunflower oil)
- 3.5g cocoa butter